
Reign Pluck Condors 5-2 in Bakersfield
Mar 22, 2016The Ontario Reign (38-15-4-1) took down the Bakersfield Condors (27-23-6-2), 5-2, Tuesday evening at Rabobank Arena.
Five different Reign forwards found the back of the net and goaltender Peter Budaj made a season-high 39 saves.
The Reign jumped on the scoreboard early in the contest as Joel Lowry snapped a wrist shot over the glove of Condors netminder Niklas Lundstrom (23 saves) at 3:20 of the first period.
Less than half a minute later, Jonny Brodzinski made it a 2-0 Ontario advantage, catching a cross-ice pass from Michael Mersch for his 12th goal of the season.
Ryan Horvat continued the Reign’s first-period onslaught with his fifth goal of the season at 11:34 from defenseman Kevin Raine and forwardMatt Leitner.
The Condors slowed down the attack when Josh Currie slipped a shot between the legs of Budaj at 13:03.
In the second period, Justin Auger reclaimed a three-goal lead for the Reign, banking a shot off the pads of Lundstrom at 7:44. The Condors caught a lucky bounce late in the frame as defenseman Dillon Simpson’s shot from the left circle popped up and fell behind Budaj at 18:30.
Sean Backman completed the game scoring with an empty-net goal from Mersch at 19:24 of the final period.
Both sides finished the game 0-for-2 on the power play.